Appetizers originated in ancient Greece as small meals served before larger ones to stimulate appetite. They were unpopular until the 19th century when meals evolved into a structured multi-course format. Romans introduced aperitifs, alcoholic drinks to aid digestion. In the 1860s, "appetizer" became commonly used in America and England as equivalent to the French "hors d'oeuvres". Initially served between main dishes and desserts, appetizers are now the first course preceding the main meal. Filipino culture also embraces appetizers as small finger foods typically involving meat, fish or nuts.
Appetizers originated in ancient Greece as small meals served before larger ones to stimulate appetite. They were unpopular until the 19th century when meals evolved into a structured multi-course format. Romans introduced aperitifs, alcoholic drinks to aid digestion. In the 1860s, "appetizer" became commonly used in America and England as equivalent to the French "hors d'oeuvres". Initially served between main dishes and desserts, appetizers are now the first course preceding the main meal. Filipino culture also embraces appetizers as small finger foods typically involving meat, fish or nuts.
Appetizers originated in ancient Greece as small meals served before larger ones to stimulate appetite. They were unpopular until the 19th century when meals evolved into a structured multi-course format. Romans introduced aperitifs, alcoholic drinks to aid digestion. In the 1860s, "appetizer" became commonly used in America and England as equivalent to the French "hors d'oeuvres". Initially served between main dishes and desserts, appetizers are now the first course preceding the main meal. Filipino culture also embraces appetizers as small finger foods typically involving meat, fish or nuts.
Appetizers originated in ancient Greece as small meals served before larger ones to stimulate appetite. They were unpopular until the 19th century when meals evolved into a structured multi-course format. Romans introduced aperitifs, alcoholic drinks to aid digestion. In the 1860s, "appetizer" became commonly used in America and England as equivalent to the French "hors d'oeuvres". Initially served between main dishes and desserts, appetizers are now the first course preceding the main meal. Filipino culture also embraces appetizers as small finger foods typically involving meat, fish or nuts.
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
Download as docx, pdf, or txt
You are on page 1of 4
The History of Appetizers
Appetizers and hors of d’oeuvre
the latter literally meaning “outside of the work”- assume a wide variety of forms in American dining. Late twenty century dictionaries treat appetizers and hors d’oeuvres –popularly understood to be bite-sized finger foods offered at cocktail parties and receptions – as synonyms. Americans also use “appetizer” to indicate the first course eaten when seated at table in a three course (appetizer, main course, dessert) meal. Virtually all cultures have indulged in pre-prandial morsels designed to whet the appetite for more substantial across cultures in offering salty foods as stimulants. The ancient Greeks and Romans sampled bits of fish, seasoned vegetables, cheese and olives while the Renaissance Italian writer Platina recommended thin rolls of grilled veal to stimulate the appetite for food and drink. Wealthy Frenchmen picked at hors d’oeuvre throughout fancy meals from the late seventeenth through the mid-nineteenth centuries, when little plates and their suggested contents – ranging from oysters, stuffed eggs and plates to slices of beef tongue or braised quails were shown on table layouts illustrating dinners served a la française. Those American who emulated that French model a variety of hors of d’oeuvre (the plural is used only in English) part of the American table and offered them throughout the meal as a palate refresher, until the desserts were served. Styles of service changed radically in the nineteenth century, evolving to the successive, multi course structure of formal contemporary meals. The role of hors d’oeuvres in the structure of meal changed as well. Although simple hors d’oeuvres such as olives, radishes, celery and nuts remained on the table throughout the meal, by the late nineteenth century, more complicated hors d’oeuvres, sometimes called “dainty dishes” – such as small pastry cases filled with bits of meat in creamy sauce - had become a separate course after the soup was served. The term “appetizers” seems to have appeared nearly simultaneously in England and America in the 1860s simply to provide an Anglophone equivalent for the French hors d’oeuvre. By the 1890s, both appetizers and hors d’oeuvres could appear within the same elegant menu. One writer in 1896 describes appetizers as an optional first course preceding soup, that is set on the table prior to a party’s entering the dining room. These appetizers were most often raw oysters or clams, but they might be small canapés, such as caviar on toast. The writer assumed that celery, salted nuts and the like would fill the table throughout the meal and she described the host to place these “various hors d’oeuvres within reach of each guest , these appetizers serving to fill in the time between course.” The History of Appetizer Appetizers were originally introduced by the Athenians
as a buffet in the early third
century B.C. They would serve sea urchins, cockles, sturgeon, and garlic. However they were unpopular to start as these tiny meals weren’t followed up with a main course, leaving everyone hungry and wanting more. It wasn’t until the nineteenth century that appetizers truly caught on, as meals evolved into more of a structured ordeal. Aperitifs came about by the Romans and were classified as a liquid appetizer that typically contained alcohol. In addition to inciting hunger like food appetizers, the purposes for aperitifs were also meant to help with the imminent digestion process. These drinks would be shared from a single glass and passed around the table to all members of the eating party. Aperitifs are still utilized today, typically with the company of food appetizers. The word itself, “appetizer,” as being used in the Americas and England in the 1860s, is more of a local flavor than “hors d’oeuvres.” For a time, appetizers are served between the main course and dessert as a refresher, but by the twentieth century they had taken their place as a precursor to the main course. On the other hand it is said that appetizers are the dishes that can truly be considered Filipino because we are best known for using our hands to eat the small finger foods that come with the first course. Appetizers can include anything from fish to meat, nuts and chips. They are often served before dinner or at large family lunches.